Meaning & History

Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of the many places in eastern Europe whose name incorporates the Slavic element byel- ‘white’.German: occupational name for someone who used or made hatchets; a variant of Biehl, with the addition of the agent suffix -er. Also a habitational name for someone from Bielen in Thuringia. Lastly, an altered spelling of Biehler (a variant of Buehler), or a habitational name from any of places mentioned at Biehle.